THE STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF CHRIST'S INDIAN PAINTBRUSH (CASTILLEJA CHRISTII) AND DAVIS' WAVEWING (CYMOPTERUS DAVISII) IN THE ALBION MOUNTAINS, SAWTOOTH NATIONAL FOREST AND CITY OF ROCKS NATIONAL RESERVE by Robert K. Moseley Conservation Data Center Natural Resource Policy Bureau October 1993 Idaho Department of Fish and Game 600 South Walnut, P.O. Box 25 Boise, Idaho 83707 Jerry M. Conley, Director Cooperative Challenge Cost-share Project Sawtooth National Forest Idaho Department of Fish and Game Purchase Order No. 43-0267-3-0188 ABSTRACT The Albion Mountains of Cassia County, Idaho, are an isolated massif rising over 5,000 feet above the eastern Snake River Plain. This high elevation "island" contains two endemic plants along its crest, Castilleja christii (Christ's Indian paintbrush) and Cymopterus davisii (Davis' wavewing). Due to their very restricted range, both are candidates for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act and are Intermountain Region Forest Service Sensitive Species. Castilleja christii occurs only on the summit of Mount Harrison at the north end of the Albion Mountains. Cymopterus davisii is somewhat more widespread, occurring on Mount Harrison with Castilleja christii and on Independence Mountain and Graham Peak at the southern end of the range. In late July 1993, I delineated the known populations of these two species, as well as thoroughly searched potential habitat for additional populations. I found no new populations, although I greatly expanded the Independence Mountain population of Cymopterus davisii. The single paintbrush population occupies approximately 200 acres on the summit plateau of Mount Harrison and consists of several thousand individuals. I estimate that over 100,000 Davis' wavewing individuals occupy around 314 acres on Mount Harrison, several hundred thousand occupy at least 370 acres on Independence Mountain, and the small population on Graham Peak contains between 500-1000 individuals. The Independence Mountain and Graham Peak populations of Davis' wavewing are isolated from any significant anthropogenic threats. Considerable disturbance has taken place on Mount Harrison and some habitat for both species has been destroyed. I make several recommendations regarding the conservation status and management of the two species. i TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................... i TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................... ii LIST OF APPENDICES ...................... ii INTRODUCTION ......................... 1 RESULTS ........................... 1 CASTILLEJA CHRISTII ...................... 3 CYMOPTERUS DAVISII ...................... 10 REFERENCES .......................... 17 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1 ... Line drawings of Castilleja christii and Cymopterus davisii. Appendix 2 ... Maps of the distributions of Castilleja christii and Cymopterus davisii. Appendix 3 ... Occurrence records from the Conservation Data Center for Castilleja christii (001) and Cymopterus davisii (001, 002, 003). Appendix 4 ... Maps of areas searched in the Albion Range for Castilleja christii and Cymopterus davisii in 1993. Appendix 5 ... Slides of Castilleja christii and Cymopterus davisii and their habitats. ii INTRODUCTION The National Forest Management Act and Forest Service policy require that Forest Service land be managed to maintain populations of all existing native animal and plant species at or above the minimum viable population level. A minimum viable population consists of the number of individuals, adequately distributed throughout their range, necessary to perpetuate the existence of the species in natural, genetically stable, self- sustaining populations. The Forest Service, along with other Federal and State agencies, has recognized the need for special planning considerations in order to protect the flora and fauna on the lands in public ownership. Species recognized by the Forest Service as needing such considerations are those that (1) are designated under the Endangered Species Act as endangered or threatened, (2) are under consideration for such designation, or (3) appear on a regional Forest Service sensitive species list. The upper elevations of the Albion Mountains are habitat for four rare plant species, Castilleja christii (Christ's Indian paintbrush), Cymopterus davisii (Davis' wavewing), Machaeranthera laetevirens (vivid green aster), and Machaeranthera shastensis var. latifolia (Shasta aster). The former three are candidates for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1990) and Intermountain Region Forest Service Sensitive Species (Spahr et al. 1991). Of particular interest are Christ's Indian paintbrush and Davis' wavewing because they are endemic to the Albion Mountains, with the paintbrush occurring only on the summit of Mount Harrison and the wavewing occurring on Mount Harrison, Independence Mountain, and Graham Peak. Recent proposals to pave the road to the summit of Mount Harrison make it imperative that the Sawtooth National Forest have precise data on the distribution and habitat of these species in order to assess the potential impacts of various road alternatives on their viability. The primary objectives of this investigation are as follows: 1) Survey and delineate known populations of the four rare species in the Albion Mountains and search suitable habitat for additional populations. 2) Characterize habitat conditions for the populations. 3) Assess population data on, and threats to the exiting populations and make management recommendations to the Forest based on these assessments. Particular attention was paid to areas near the Howell Canyon Road on Mount Harrison. 1 RESULTS In planning field work for this project, I anticipated doing inventories for all four plants at once, even though the two Machaeranthera species bloom latter than the wavewing or the paintbrush. My plan was to conduct field inventories during peak Machaeranthera flowering, because fruiting individuals of the other two are easy to survey for. The summer of 1993 was the coldest ever recorded for Idaho, and, even though I delayed field work from what I had originally scheduled, the asters were still in a vegetative state when I conducted my surveys during the week of July 26-30. This made it futile to search for them during my field work in the Albion Mountains in 1993. Based on previous experience, I know that along the crest of the Albion Mountains, the Machaeranthera species occur on southerly, sagebrush-dominated slopes where the soil is unstable due to downslope movement. This habitat is widespread throughout the range, although it does not occur in the immediate vicinity of the road on Mount Harrison. In retrospect, it is probably better to inventory for the two Machaeranthera species separately because they occur in a widespread habitat. Not having done so left considerable time in 1993 to conduct a detailed search for the two Albion Mountains endemics, Christ's Indian paintbrush and Davis' wavewing. They are the rarest species and the ones most likely to be impacted by future development on Mount Harrison. Following is the status of our knowledge of Christ's Indian paintbrush and Davis' wavewing, including information on taxonomy, habitat, distribution, conservation status, and management recommendations for each species. Sections containing line drawings, distribution maps, maps of areas searched unsuccessfully, and slides of the two species and their habitats are appended to the end of the report. 2 Castilleja christii N. Holmgren TAXONOMY Full bibliographic citation: Holmgren, N.H. 1973. Five new species of Castilleja (Scrophulariaceae) from the Intermountain Region. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 100:83-93. Type specimen: Idaho, Cassia County, Cache Peak Range (Albion Mountains), near the top of Harrison Mountain, T13S R24E, S9, elevation 2780 m, 12 July 1966, Holmgren and Reveal 2866 (Holoytype NY; Isotypes: ARIZ, BRY, C, DAO, JEPS, KANU, NCU, RSA, TENN, US, UTC, WTU) (Holmgren 1973). Pertinent synonym(s): None. Common name: Christ's Indian paintbrush Size of genus: A large genus of about 200 species, occurring chiefly in western North America, but represented in eastern North America (two species), northern Asia (about five species), and Central and Andean South America (about 15 species) (Holmgren 1984). Family name: Scrophulariaceae Common name for family: Figwort History of knowledge of taxon: Our knowledge of Christ's Indian paintbrush is relatively recent. John Christ first collected it in 1950, followed shortly by William Baker in 1952 (Holmgren 1973). It wasn't until Noel Holmgren and Jim Reveal collected it in 1966 and Holmgren formally described it in 1973, that it was recognized as a new species. He named it in honor of the first collector, John Christ, who has probably collected more plants in Idaho than any other person. Conservation attention was focused on it when Bob Steele reviewed its status for the Rare and Endangered Plants Technical Committee of the Idaho Natural Areas Council (1977; 1981). Duane Atwood also prepared a status report (Atwood 1984). There was a flurry of conservation activity in the mid-1980's when a management plan was developed (Atwood 1985), and a monitoring study was established (unpublished data on file at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Boise Field Office). These activities apparently were never followed-up on and quickly faded from the scene. Alternative taxonomic treatments: None. LEGAL OR OTHER FORMAL STATUS 3 National: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Christ's Indian